I want to welcome you both to this panel and thank you and my colleagues for your time.

 

As I have said in the past, being a Commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission is one of the most difficult jobs in Washington. 

 

The FCC has wide-ranging authority over so many communications services that are a vital part of our daily lives.  From broadband to wireless phones to television content to public safety communications—this agency oversees it all.

 

Because we entrust our FCC Commissioners with such great power, we expect a lot from them.

 

But as I made clear to the new FCC Chairman at the nomination hearing that this Committee held a month ago, I believe the agency is broken. 

 

Where it should be relying on the facts, it has been dependent on ideology.  Where it should be open and transparent, it has been opaque and beholden to the industry it regulates.

 

Worse, I believe it has lost sight of its mission—helping all consumers benefit from the great explosion of communications technologies that are changing our economy and changing our world.

 

So I charge both of our nominees today with doing their part to repair this agency.

 

I believe the perspectives you bring will help with this task. 

 

With Ms. Clyburn we have a seasoned state regulator who knows what rural America looks like.   

 

With Ms. Baker we have someone who has toiled in the trenches at the NTIA and knows communications issues from the inside out. 

 

Both are devoted public servants. 

 

So show us that the FCC can put consumers first.  Show us that the agency can produce data we can trust. 

 

And show us that the American people can have access to first class communications, no matter who they are or where they live.

 

This Committee will be watching.

 

I look forward to your testimony.

 

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